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Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Guest Post: Joyce T. Strand: From Spin to Spillane

Today's guest is not only an accomplished author, but a great resource in the literary community. She has been a huge help to me, and her knowledge and work ethic are truly amazing.

Joyce T. Strand

Mystery author Joyce Strand, much like her
fictional character, Jillian Hillcrest, served as head of corporate
communications at several biotech and high-tech companies in Silicon Valley for
more than 25 years. Unlike Jillian, however, she did not encounter murder.
Rather, she focused on publicizing her companies and their products. Joyce
received her Ph.D. from The George Washington University, Washington, D.C. and
her B.A. from Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA.

She currently lives in Southern California with
her two cats, a collection of cow statuary and art, and her muse, the
roadrunner.

Murder intrudes on PR Executive Jillian
Hillcrest's routine as head communications executive at a small Silicon Valley
biotechnology company. When someone near to her is murdered, a determined San
Francisco police inspector involves her in the investigation, convinced she is
key to solving the crime. She co-operates fully only to find that solving a
murder is more hazardous than writing press releases. ON MESSAGE is the first
in the Jillian Hillcrest mystery series. As with all the novels in this series,
it was inspired by a real California case.

Jillian
Hillcrest returns as a PR Executive to join with a local Silicon Valley
reporter who is uneasy about the supposed DUI death of an informant. He
solicits Jillian’s help along with that of her neighbor, a retired police
officer, to look into events in his hometown north of the Napa/Sonoma wine
country. Jillian’s ex-husband grows more and more certain he wants to re-marry
her.OPEN MEETINGS was inspired by a
network of criminal ex- and current police officers in the broader San
Francisco Bay Area.

Most of
us are not born authors. We start out earning our living in a variety of ways.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a physician. Stieg Larsson and Michael Connelly were
successful reporters – Connelly even was a finalist for a Pulitzer for his
coverage of the 1985 Delta Flight 191 plane crash. Nora Roberts was a legal
secretary, albeit briefly.Mary Higgins
Clark worked as a secretary, copy editor and stewardess. Isaac Asimov was a
biochemistry professor.Raymond Chandler
decided to become a writer when he lost his job as an oil executive during the
Depression. Our host – Ahmad Taylor – was involved in law enforcement.

I was a
public relations specialist practiced in the art of spin. I am currently a
mystery writer ala Mickey Spillane.Hence – “From Spin to Spillane.”Well, I’m not claiming to be as good at creating a story as the artful,
down-to-earth Mr. Spillane.But I am a
former spinner of products turned current writer of mysteries.

Many
authors exploit the experience from their work environment to tell their story
or enhance the credibility of their characters. Kathy Reichs created Temprance
Brennan—known on TV as Bones—patterned on her own career of forensic
anthropologist. Ahmad uses his background in law enforcement to create credible
government agents. Lawyer Erle Stanley Garner created Perry Mason. John Grisham
practiced law for more than 10 years before starting to write his legal thrillers.

When I
decided to write mysteries, I set them in the world I knew for more than 25
years as a Silicon Valley PR pro. Jillian Hillcrest is basically just doing her
job when she is thrown into criminal situations where she must respond. Of
course, I had to check with law officers, psychologists, and other experts to
help with those parts of my novels not covered in the career of a PR executive.
But I was able to reach into my work experience to define characters, create
situations, and lead readers astray.

How
important is this real-life career experience to the credibility of any story?
We know if we’re writing historical fiction, we rely on research for back story
and characterizations. And certainly those writing fantasy and paranormal don’t
need the benefit of experience to enhance their stories. But for modern day fiction,
is the added insight of practical experience significant?

I truly
believe that Grisham’s legal thrillers are greatly enhanced because of his
career in the law. And certainly Kathy Reichs’ degree and work in forensic
anthropology contributed to the credibility of her books about Temprance
Brennan. Being a crime reporter most likely helped Michael Connelly deliver a
more believable Hieronymus Bosch and Mickey Haller.

But how
helpful was Tom Clancy’s insurance background to his detail-oriented spy
novels? For Micky Spillane, how useful were life-guard duty or trampoline
artist at Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Circus?

OK. So
maybe we don’t NEED the added insight offered by real-life experience for
successful story-telling. However, I do believe that we readers benefit when a
story is set in an author’s familiar environment or includes characters from
his/her profession.In my genre of
mysteries, for example, we can broaden and deepen the clues, red herrings, and
characters with knowledge based on experience.

Bottom
line: There are many aspects to creating a good story. We readers can benefit
just a little bit more with stories that exploit an author’s background.

3 comments:

Wow! Thanks so much for the kind -- I'm not sure deserved -- words. Also, I appreciate the opportunity to post my article on your Darkside Musings blog. Although Jillian Hillcrest has not yet gone to the Darkside, she certainly respects those who do!

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About Me

Ahmad Taylor

I am a 36 year old writer living in South Florida. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y. and lived in NYC until I was 29. I was a cop briefly, and then gravitated toward security consulting, which lends to the law enforcement side of my writing.

I am a big fan of Science Fiction and Suspense stories which shaped the style and approach of my debut novel.I am a Christian, and while I do not write about my faith, it definitely affects how and what I write about.